Every Other Weekend
by FizzyPop's'n'FlipFlops.x
Summary: Sometimes the happily ever after isn't the end of the story. Brooke and Nathan's perfect marriage falls to parts and when it looks like all hope is lost, can their path to their happy ending be restored?
1. Prologue

**You guys will not believe how long I've had this in my head and in bits on my laptop. It's not the story I was referring to a few days ago when I said I would post it but I'm feeling a bit unhappy with my plan for that at the moment so I'm going with this instead.**

**I hope you like it.**

_**Prologue **_

_Brooke POV_

"_I could just stay like this forever," I said snuggling closer to Nathan. _

_He wrapped his arms around me tighter, which had an instant calming effect on me._

_The point of lying in front of the fire to heat us up was lost about a half hour ago but neither of us wanted to get up._

"_I know. Me too," he said, gently kissing the top of my head._

"_It's all going to be ok isn't it?" I asked, and I didn't have to elaborate because he knew exactly what I was referring to._

"_Everything will be ok, I don't want you to worry about anything," he said._

_Even though he told me not to worry, I couldn't exactly help it. It wasn't every day you get to tell your parents you're having a baby at seventeen, and hope they don't completely freak out._

"_How do you know?" I asked him._

"_Because we can get through anything," he said._

"_We can?" I asked, but not because I doubted him, because I needed some sort of reassurance that everything would work out._

_He nodded._

"_As long as we're together we can get through anything Brooke, because I love you," he said pulling away from me slightly. "And I want to make sure you're by my side forever."_

_Nathan pulled something up from the floor beside him and as soon as I saw the little black velvet box, I sat up instantly._

"_Nathan—what are you doing?" I rushed out._

_Nathan opened the box with one hand, to reveal what was clearly a diamond engagement ring inside. It was a simple band, with a small diamond but it was clearly an engagement ring._

"_I know it's not the most amazing ring, but I promise once I'm making some more money I'll get you a new—"_

"_Nathan, that's an engagement ring!" I said stating the obvious, not able to take my eyes off it._

"_I know. I'm asking you to be my wife," he said._

"_But what about your basketball scholarship? And Duke? And –"_

"_Brooke, I'm not going to Duke," Nathan said putting the box down and lacing his fingers through mine._

"_What? But it's your dream," I said. "I can't let you ruin your—"_

"_I don't want to be gone all the time and if I play basketball I will be. I want to be there with you through all of this, then be there to watch my son or daughter grow up."_

"_Are you sure?" I asked, not wanting to be the reason Nathan didn't pursue his plans. I wasn't asking him to give anything up, and I didn't want him to resent making his decision. _

"_You're my dream Brooke, and our family is my happy ending," he said putting his hand on my still flat stomach._

_I couldn't help but smile at Nathan in front of me, and I wondered if it were even possible to love one person this much. Part of me was scared that even though I'd have Nathan, him being busy with basketball would mean that I would be alone a lot of the time, but as worried as I was, I would never ask him to give up his dream. His words now though gave me the reassurance I needed and made me feel protected and even more loved._

"_I love you Nathan Scott," I said holding out my hand. Nathan slipped the ring, which was a perfect fit onto my ring finger, and I leaned forward at the same time as Nathan._

"_Forever," he whispered just before his lips met mine and in that moment I knew everything would be ok._

15 Years Later-Nathan POV

It was silent. Almost too silent. I had nothing to do but think, and right now the last thing I wanted to do was think about the events that had just transpired and what would inevitably be their result.

The tap on the other side dripped again, and I watched the small drop fall, waiting to hear the dull thud of the droplet reaching the sink. It was the sound that I had come accustomed to hearing in the past hour I had been in here; but before it could get there the loud crash of the door flying open took my attention away, sounding much louder than it was as the noise echoed off the walls.

I could hear footsteps and murmured voices, and looked up when a felt a shadow over me.

"What the hell were you thinking?" Brooke practically screamed. Even the police officer who had followed her looked intimidated.

Her hair was in a messy pony tail with strands falling out and she was wearing Talia's Tree Hill high hockey team hoodie over her t-shirt which told me she'd left in a rush.

"Bro—"

"No, are you insane?" she continued. I didn't think she actually wanted me to answer but she had stopped speaking and was glaring at me.

"It wasn't like that…" I started but couldn't finish. Sitting here had given me more than enough time to work out how I was going to explain myself but now that she was standing here in front of me I found myself speechless.

"Oh really? So you didn't just start drunkenly assaulting Julian in a bar?" she asked, crossing her arms.

"I wasn't actually drunk, they just assumed I was," I said, but as soon as I saw her expression I knew it was the wrong thing to say.

"You know that actually makes it worse," she said. "I can't believe how immature you are, and I actually believed you when you said you changed."

"Brooke, it wasn't like that ok? It wasn't like before. I just….you didn't hear what he was saying about you," I told her.

"So this was over me?" she asked, transferring her hands to her hips, "You have no right to do anything because of me! You have no right to interfere in my life anymore Nathan, you need to understand that!" I instantly felt sick at the words coming out her mouth, and I clenched the edge of the bench I was sitting on.

"You know the kids are going to find out somehow what happened, and that's if Talia doesn't already know. You know how quickly news spreads in Tree Hill. How do you think it makes them feel?"

I rubbed at my eyes and took a deep breath wishing I could rewind time.

"Brooke—"

"No, you know what? I don't want to hear it anymore. I'll see you tomorrow and we'll get done what we have to do and sign the papers but then I don't want to talk to you. I can't deal with this anymore," she said walking away, through the door she came in from without waiting for my reply.

A few minutes later the officer came back and unlocked the door of the pathetic little cell they kept in the back of the police station, and I followed him out to the main office, already feeling ridiculous enough for being in here in the first place.

Brooke couldn't be that mad if she bailed me out right?

Once the office had given me back my cell phone and keys, I walked out the station to see Mouth leaning against his car, and suddenly the release became clear.

"You do realise you're making my job as your lawyer practically impossible right?" he asked with his arms crossed.

"Mouth, not now ok?" I said walking to the passenger side of the car, "Brooke already gave me the lecture."

"You couldn't have chosen any other night to get arrested apart from the night before your divorce and custody hearing?" Mouth asked.

xxxxxxxxx

Please do tell me what you think. I think this story will be about 10 chapters? Or 15? I don't think it will be as long as my other stories.

Looking forward to hearing from you all!

x


	2. Chapter 1

**WANTED TO UPLOAD FOR XMAS DAY BUT FANFIC POSTING IS DOWN- ALSO THE OTHER A/N WILL BE A DAY OUT!**

**A/N: Merry Christmas to all my amazing readers! It's taken me a while (yes a few years!) to build up my group of readers but you are all such a big part of my life and I appreciate you all so much!**

**I did plan to update FAME too for Christmas but didn't get around to it! **

**Enjoy:**

Chapter 1- Five minutes in a Walmart parking lot.

Brook POV- A little while ago….

"El, you ready sweetie?" I asked, opening the door to my six year old daughter's bedroom.

"Yep," she said, moving out the way so I could see her suitcase, which was stuffed with all the cuddly toys that were usually on her bed.

"Ella you can't take all of them," I said putting the laundry basket I had on my hip down and going to see what else she had packed.

"But I won't know which one I'll want tonight, and if I don't have the right one I won't be able to sleep," she reasoned.

I lifted the toys up and sure enough all the essentials that were supposed to be there were packed as well, I didn't really have reason to complain.

"Ok," I said running my fingers through her hair, "as long as you can close it."

"Yes!" she squealed, getting to work.

"Five minutes, Ella," I said picking up the basket again and going into the bedroom next door.

I smiled as I saw Cody sitting on his bed with his bag next to him, and jacket on ready to go.

"Are we going yet?" he asked, making me smile.

"Nearly buddy," I said. "Why don't you go and help Ella close her bag. You can sit on the suitcase."

Cody jumped off his bed and ran past me into his sister's bedroom instantly, in excitement.

I turned around and headed down the hallway, pushing stray toys to the side before anyone tripped.

"Hey," I said walking into Talia's bedroom, and setting the basket on her bed.

"Hey," she mumbled, not taking her eyes off the computer screen.

"You don't look ready to go," I said putting a pile of ironed clothes on her drawers for her to put away.

"That's because I'm not going," she said.

"You haven't gone the last three times," I reminded her.

"I don't really care," she said.

"Talia," I warned.

She swivelled around her in her chair and looked at me pleadingly.

"Please Mom, don't make me go," she said.

"You can't avoid this forever," I told her.

"I know," she said. "I just can't right now."

I knew letting her get away with this was wrong, but I knew it would be much worse if I forced her.

"Ok," I said, giving in, and she smiled. "I suppose we could do with a girly weekend."

"Thanks Mom, I love you," she said.

"I love you too Natalia," I said kissing her on her forehead, then leaving the room.

In the end it took much longer that it needed to actually get going. The first time we sat in the car, Ella remembered she forget Ballerina Bunny, so I had to go back inside to get it. The second time, we made if half way down the road before I realised Cody had snuck his pet turtle Baxter in under his jacket, and had to turn back to put him back in his tank.

Eventually we made it into the parking lot of the Mini Mart half way between the old house where Nathan was, and the new house where I was with the kids. Sure enough, Nathan was already there, standing against his car with his sunglasses on. Why did he always look amazing? I suddenly wished I'd made a bit more effort, rather than just coming out in what I was wearing.

I swallowed hard, feeling the flutter in my stomach, an automatic reaction to whenever I saw him, and wondered if it would ever go away.

As soon as I parked, Nathan walked over and Ella let herself out, running into his arms. Cody whined, wanting to be let out of his booster seat, and as soon as I unclipped him, he ran past me to Nathan.

I could hear their excited voices as they told Nathan everything they possibly could, and his happy reaction to their stories.

I opened the back of the car and took out Ella's bag and put it on the floor, but before I could reach for Cody's, Nathan took it out the car and slung it on his shoulder.

"Hey," he said coolly. I looked past him and saw Cody and Ella already strapped into his car.

"Hi," I replied, tucking a loose strand of hair behind my ear.

"How are you?" he asked.

"Fine. You?" I asked, closing the trunk.

How did we ever get to this point exchanging pleasantries in parking lot? I so badly wanted things to be normal again but I knew that wasn't the right thing for kids. I had to be the adult here and remember why we broke up in the first place.

"I'm fine," he said nodding. "Where's Talia?"

"She wanted to come but she had a report to do for school," I said, the lie slipping out, not wanting to hurt him.

"Again?" he asked looking disappointed.

"Yeah, well, she's pretty busy. Sophomore year is nearly over, and assignments and stuff," I said.

"Brooke, it's ok, you don't have to lie," he said sighing. "You can tell me she didn't want to see me."

"Nathan, that's not true," I said.

"Then why is it every time I see her at school she avoids me and turns the other way?" he asked.

My silence gave him his reply.

"Just give her time," I said, and he nodded. "I'll try talk to her about it."

"Thanks, but I probably deserve it," he said.

"Na—" I started but was interrupted by one of the kids hitting on the horn impatiently.

"So I'll see you Sunday?" I asked.

"Yeah. Seven ok?" he asked like it wasn't the routine we had gone by since our break up last year.

"Yeah," I replied.

"I can drop them home if you want," he said. "Stop you coming out."

"That's ok, I'll just meet you here," I said. Nathan hadn't been to the new house yet and I hadn't been back home since I moved out. Right now I just wanted to keep the new house and my old house separate.

"Ok," he said.

"I put Cody's asthma inhaler in the front—"

"Pocket of his back pack," Nathan finished for me. "we'll be fine, don't worry."

"Ok, "I said nodding.

He tapped on the back window of his car, and Ella rolled it down.

"Did you both say bye to Mommy?" he asked them.

"Bye Mommy!" they both called out at the same time, realising they forgot something.

"Be good," I told them both, kissing them through the window as Ella put the window up again. I tried not to feel hurt at how quick they were willing to leave me, knowing they were just excited at seeing Nathan.

I gave them a small wave before getting back in my now silent car and headed back home.

"I love you," I mumbled as I watched him get smaller in my rear view mirror.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Nathan POV

I watched as she said bye to the kids through the window, telling them a few last minute things. It was only at this five minute exchange that I got to experience one every two weeks that it really hit me just how much I missed her.

She was wearing faded light denim shorts and a loose button up shirt that I knew she only wore when she was planning to lie on the couch and have a relaxing night in. I knew this because she used to lie on the couch and have a relaxing night in with me.

She stood on her tip toes, as she kissed Cody through the window, and I had to grip her door handle to force myself not to touch her. That wasn't my place anymore.

She gave me a small smile as she walked toward her car again, and I felt the familiar feeling of dread as I watched her drive away. This small window of time was the highlight of my fortnight, and what I looked forward to for two weeks, but seeing her drive away from me always made my heart break knowing I'd broken hers.

More than anything I wanted everything to be ok, and make my family whole again, but I knew it was my fault that it was torn apart in the first place and I didn't know how to begin making it alright again.

Each time I saw her I tried to make our meeting last longer, but there was only so much you could draw out moving kids and their bags from one car to another. So many times I'd wanted to tell her how much I loved her but firstly I couldn't say that in front of the kids.

I got inside the car, and started the engine, watching both kids in the back arguing over something or another.

Other than getting to see Brooke, the next best part was getting to see the kids. Ella and Cody were still too young to fully understand what had gone on, and were used to having Mommy and Daddy living in two different houses now. Talia on the other hand was old enough to figure out there was a reason her parents separated and it didn't take her long to figure out what had happened or rather what I did.

It killed me that Talia hated me and refused to see me the only chance she had. I knew I deserve it for hurting her but she was still my baby girl and I hated how she was disappointed in me.

"Daddy?" Cody asked.

"Yeah?" I replied.

"Are we going?" Ella asked.

"Yeah, we are" I said, reversing out the parking lot, making the most of having at least some of my family with me.

**A/N: Let me know what you think. Just in case you're confused this is the order of how things happened:**

**-The flashback when they're 17 and Brooke is Pregnant.**

**-Then this chapter in the parking lot**

**-then the scene at the jail.**

**(The story will now continue filling the gap until it catches up with present day which was at the jail.)**


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Brooke POV

"Mom? You coming?" Talia asked, pausing with her car door open.

"Yeah," I said pushing the mirror up and getting out the car. My stomach filled with butterflies as I walked up to my best friend's house for her birthday party. It didn't take a genius to work out that Nathan would probably be here too; after all Peyton was just as much his friend as she was mine. She was also his brother's wife which sort of meant he had more right to be here than I did.

All of the interconnections between our group of friends is probably what made this situation so hard. We didn't want our friends to have to choose sides when we split up since it wasn't fair on them. Me and Nathan had gone into our relationship with the same group of friends so it wasn't like we could leave with the ones we came with. The fact that his brother married my best friend only made this a little bit harder.

Talia knocked on the door, and it flew open as Peyton appeared on the other side.

"Happy Birthday!" Talia said happily, hugging Peyton.

"Thank you sweetie," she said, as Talia went past her into the house.

"Happy Birthday Peyt," I said hugging her myself.

"Thanks B," she said over the noise coming from the house. From the sounds of it, it was already a full house, "you look like you need a drink."

"Like you wouldn't believe," I said laughing.

We went into the kitchen, and I helped myself to some punch, as Peyton poured in vodka over the top of the alcohol that was already in there. It felt like we were back in high school.

"Peyton!"

"What? You're childless for the night," she said.

"Did you forget about Talia?" I asked, taking a sip.

"Relax, she's old enough. Remember what we were doing at fifteen?" Peyton said casually and I spluttered on my drink.

"Careful there Brooke," Lucas said coming into the kitchen with Nathan behind him.

"Hi Brooke," Nathan said.

"Hi," I said. My voice sounded calm but my inner voice was yelling 'It's Nathan!' over and over again.

"How are you?" he asked.

"I'm fine, you?"

"I'm good," he said and there was an awkward few seconds, "where are the kids?"

"They're with my Mom, I figured this was more of a grown up party," I said gesturing to my 'special' punch.

"Oh," he said looking slightly disappointed.

"Talia is inside though, she's probably with Kaitlyn,"I said referring to Lucas and Peyton's daughter.

"Oh ok," Nathan said.

"So I'm going to go see who's around," I said feeling faint, and it had nothing to do with my drink. There was something about Nathan that took me right back to high school. I felt like a teenager again, not being able to keep composed when in front of the guy I 'liked'. I hated how I couldn't stop that part of me having feelings for Nathan. I wish I could make myself listen to the grown up rational side of me that understood that we weren't together anymore. The fact that I saw him every other weekend and also at events like this didn't really give me the space I needed to get over him.

I went into the living room and saw lots of people I knew. I also did a quick scan for Talia and sure enough she was with Kaitlyn and Jenny, Jake's daughter.

Before I could go and say hi to Rachel though, I felt Lucas drag me into the hallway.

"What was that?" he asked.

"What?"

"You could have actually made an effort to talk to him," Lucas said. "Like today, you know I didn't mind picking up El and Cody from school but you know you could have asked him, he would have loved it. Why are you being so hard on Nathan?"

"Luke you know why," I said not making eye contact.

"Why are you being so stubborn?" he asked me, and I felt myself get annoyed at the way he was talking to me.

"Excuse me?"

"He's clearly trying Brooke," he said, "and you're just being stubborn. You're not a teenager anymore."

"This isn't actually any of your business," I said.

"Well he's my brother and you're my best friend, and you're both the parents of my nieces and nephew so it kind of is," he said.

"Well everyone needs to stop assuming they know what's best for me," I said raising my voice, "What if getting back together isn't the right thing for me or Nathan or the kids? What if we're meant to be apart?"

"That's ridiculous and you know it. The only reason you two are apart right now is because of a stupid drunken mistake, not because of any real issue between the two of you," he said as if he knew everything about our marriage. The issues started way before the 'stupid drunken mistake' as he liked to put it.

"Luke, drop it," I warned, "whether he was drunk at the time or not he still subconsciously wanted to do it."

"That's bull and you know it. Nathan hasn't touched a drop of alcohol since you two split and he's really trying. You're just too stubborn to see that," he said, "You need to stop keeping him on a string because the unknown is killing him. I know you still love him."

Of course I still love him; it was never about that. Why did everyone feel the need to ask me that? Did nobody understand we weren't together anymore?

"I can't do this right now," I said, feeling the tears start to fall.

I pushed past him and out the front door.

"Brooke don't go," I heard him call after me but I ignored him.

This wasn't the first speech about getting back together with Nathan that I'd gotten but I was finally sick of everyone treating me like a child who was just being selfish.

I didn't understand why everyone was acting like I was the one being difficult for not letting Nathan back into my life. I'm sick of them acting like it's no big deal and I was overreacting and not dropping my grudge.

I was an adult and all I was doing was protecting myself, and my kids from further heartbreak.

Maybe I did need to stop keeping Nathan and me in limbo and sort this out once and for all.

Xxxxxxxxx

Nathan POV

"Was Brooke crying?" I heard Peyton ask from the doorway to the kitchen and I automatically turned around.

Lucas came into the kitchen and ran his hand through his hair.

"Yeah, she just left," he said.

"What happened?" I asked.

"We had a little disagreement," Lucas said.

"About what?"

"You."

"Shit, Luke what did you say to her?" I asked feeling dread fill my bones. She didn't deserve to go through this, "I told you to just leave it."

"She's being stubborn but not giving you a chance," he said.

"Tell me you didn't say that to her," I said.

I didn't even deserve for her to be talking to me at all let alone give me another chance. I didn't want her to feel pressured in any way because Lucas couldn't keep his opinions to himself.

"It's true!" Luke said and I sighed, "you're being just as stubborn by not telling her how you feel."

"Oh my god Lucas, is she ok?" Peyton asked.

"She'll be fine," he said sitting on the chair.

Peyton took her phone out and looked at the screen, "That's Brooke now, she asked if someone can drop Talia off later."

"I'll do it," I said and Peyton nodded.

I didn't want Brooke to think I'd pushed Lucas to talk to her because I didn't want her to feel like I was forcing her to do anything.

I stayed at the party for another twenty minutes but I couldn't keep the worry out my mind. She was clearly upset enough to leave and I felt like I needed to know she was ok.

"Tal you ready to go?" I asked my daughter.

Natalia looked up at my voice and bit her lip.

"Where's Mom?"

"She left and wanted me to drop you home," I explained.

"She left?" Talia asked confused.

"She was a little upset," I explained vaguely.

"What did you do to her?" she instantly accused.

I hated how she instantly assumed I'd done something to upset Brooke, although I couldn't blame her.

"Nothing, she just didn't like something Uncle Luke said," I said.

"Can we go now?" she asked, clearly concerned. Even though she wasn't on my team right now, I was glad Talia was on Brooke's.

I nodded and we headed out to the car.

We drove silently for about five minutes. Talia sat slightly to the side, staring out the window.

"So how have you been?" I asked. It was weird having no idea what was going on in my own daughter's life considering how close we used to be.

"Fine," she replied shrugging.

"You've had a lot of school work right?"

"Huh?"

"On the weekends?"

"Oh right, yeah," she said clearly lying.

"Listen Natalia—"

"Talia," she corrected.

"Tal, I don't want things to be like this between us," I said turning into the road where Brooke lived.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"I know you're mad at me, but I love you and I want to things to be ok between us," I said.

"Everything's fine," she said unbuckling her seatbelt.

I sighed at how well that went and went to take off my own seatbelt.

"Maybe I should just go check on her," Talia said.

I thought about it then nodded. Maybe turning up at her house at this time wouldn't really help. I hadn't actually been in the new house before, always meeting them in the parking lot but this didn't really seem like the right moment to change that.

"Ok," I said, "Night Talia."

"Bye," she said without looking back.

xxxxxxx


	4. Chapter 3

A/N: I know guys, I'm slowly down on updates but I feel like I have no free time! But I'm trying !

As always let me know what you think!

WARNING: NOT PROOF READ FOR GRAMMAR MISTAKES!

Chapter 3

Talia POV

"He is so hot," I heard Miranda say from a few benches down.

She sighed loudly and leaned back.

"He's old enough to be our Dad but I so don't care," Jessica said agreeing with her.

"Oh please my Dad is like fifty and bald. Coach Scott is nothing like my Dad," Miranda said.

"He must have been like sixteen when Talia was born," Rebecca added.

I resisted the urge to correct her that it was actually seventeen, and rolled my eyes instead as I ate my apple.

"He clearly just stayed with her because she got pregnant," Miranda said.

I gripped the apple in my hand and ignored the juice that ran down from the apple to my wrist. I tried to stay in control and not react. This wasn't anything new; it wasn't like I hadn't heard their ridiculous thoughts about Dad before. Normally I just ignored them and laughed at them behind their backs so why were their words pushing all my buttons today?

A tiny voice in my head shouted 'because they might be right', but I refused to believe Mom and Dad only stayed together because of me. If that were true they wouldn't have had Ella and Cody too right? I also had way too many happy memories of us as a family to even consider it as true, but then again a year and a half ago I thought I knew them well enough to think this wouldn't have happened either. I didn't know what I knew anymore.

I cursed the fact I forgot my headphones and couldn't drown them out as they chose to spend their lunch time watching Dad as he coached the basketball team. Well actually if I was going to curse anything it would be the fact that I couldn't escape Dad at home or at school.

"Yeah, so thank god he finally came to his senses and divorced that skank of a wife who trapped him by getting pregnant," Miranda said.

And that was the point where I couldn't help myself.

"You have no idea about anything," I said.

"Oh please calm down," Jessica said rolling her eyes, "this has nothing to do with you."

"Actually when your discussing my Mom, who you don't even know by the way, and my Dad, who you actually you don't know either, it does kind of bring me into it."

"Well I do know your Mom didn't deserve him because she clearly had no idea what he needed," Miranda said in a snarky tone, and the others laughed.

"As opposed to what? You, the fifteen year old that does?" I said before I punched her.

Xxxxxxx

Nathan POV

I looked down at the lesson plans in front of me but my eyes kept wondering to the framed picture on my desk. We took that photo a week after Cody was born when this were still good. It was Brooke's first outing out since she'd come home from the hospital and we'd ended up just walking down to the River Court. Talia and Ella fed the ducks, and Brooke sat on the picnic blanket with Cody. I remember thinking that afternoon that I couldn't believe this is was my family. Everything seemed so perfect, and I couldn't have imagined things working out any other way. I flipped the camera around on my phone just as Talia and Ella came running to the blanket and I managed to get the perfect picture of all of us, fitting into the frame.

Brooke was clutching Cody with Ella sitting on her lap. My arm was around Brooke, and the other was behind me, keeping Talia who was on my back secure. Technically the photo wasn't that successful because I was the only one looking into the camera. The kids were in too playful a mood to sit still and Brooke was too busy looking at me. Despite all that though it was my favourite picture because it was real.

After seeing how the picture turned out, it didn't take me long to print it out and frame it for my desk.

After everything went downhill I couldn't bring myself to take it down. It had been a few days since Peyton's birthday party and Brooke still had yet to call me. Although why would she? She didn't owe many any explanations or reassurances she was ok.

I was so close to calling her but it wasn't my place. I was just having a hard time getting myself to understand that. How the hell did I get to this point where I had no right to even call Brooke without having questions regarding the kids?

I wanted to make sure she knew I didn't put Luke up to their conversation. It was ok to call her about that right?

This would all be so much easier if there was a rule book for 'how to communicate with your wife who you're separated from but you wish you weren't and you're actually in love with'—but unfortunately no such publication existed yet.

"Coach Scott?"

I looked up from my desk and quickly shuffled some papers around as the doors opened, putting them down as if I was in the middle of something.

"Keesha? Hi," I said seeing Principal Turners assistant.

"Sorry to disturb you, but we're having a little problem with Talia, I didn't know if I should have called your wife or—"

"Talia? Is she ok?" I asked, panicked.

"Well, there was an incident today," she said, but I was already walking with her to Principal Turner's office.

I walked into the office area and saw Principal Turner's office door already open, and I took that as my invitation to come in.

Miranda Goode was sitting in the chair with tears streaming down her face, and blood coming out her nose, and Turner had his arms crossed and was staring at Talia.

I felt relief seeing she was ok, then took notice of the cut on her lip and deep scratches on her arm.

"Coach Scott, thank you for coming," Turner said.

"What happened?" I said pulling Talia toward me by her arm and scanning her over for any more injuries. She wouldn't meet my eyes but let me check her.

"It seems Natalia physically attacked Miss Goode today unprovoked. I have witnesses—"

"Those witnesses were her friends!" Talia burst out.

"Talia!" I warned against her tone toward Principal Turner.

"What it's true!" she said.

"She just hit me!" Miranda said crying even more, "I didn't do anything."

Talia rolled her eyes.

"I'm sorry Nathan but I'm going to have to ask Natalia not to go back to class for the rest of the day," Principal Turner said.

"Completely understandable," I said, not believing that Talia had taken it this far.

"What!" Talia said.

"I trust you'll deal with this appropriately," Turner said.

"Oh believe me, I will," I said guiding Talia out.

She pushed me off her as soon as we were out the office.

She didn't say anything but I took her into my office.

"What were you thinking?" I yelled as soon as the door was shut, "you hit her Talia?"

"Why are you yelling at me?" she yelled back.

"Why do you think?" I answered.

"You're not even going to hear my side of the story?" she asked.

"Did you hit her?" I asked crossing my arms.

"Yes but—"

"Did you hit her before she hit you?" I asked.

"Yes b—"

"Then I think you know why I'm mad right now," I said, "doesn't matter what happens, you don't hit people Talia. We raised you better than that."

She looked up at me and I saw anger cross her eyes.

"I can't believe you're just taking her side," she said.

"I'm not taking her side. This is about you. I'm telling you that what you did was wrong," I told her.

I could tell from the look in her eyes that she didn't want to be disciplined by me, but everything else aside I was still her Dad whether she liked it or not.

Xxxxx

Brooke POV

"Brooke Scott," I said automatically as I answered the my cell phone.

I tucked it under my ear as I pulled into my driveway and turned off the car.

"Brooke, I'm glad I caught you. I was hoping to speak to you today at the office but I've had meeting's all day," I heard my boss say.

"That's ok Mr Duane, how can I help you now?" I asked, as I unclipped Cody's booster seat and he ran out the car behind Ella who was already waiting at the door.

"I actually wanted to discuss your position here at the company," he said.

I bit my lip as I envisioned him firing me. I unlocked the front door for the kids then went into the kitchen.

"Oh, right," I said waiting to hear it.

If I lost my job now it would be the worst time. I had this house to pay for by myself, and not to mention all the extra bills. Of course Nathan had offered and even insisted to pay them but I'd wanted to do things by myself. Call it pride. I knew if I needed money now he'd gladly step up to help me but I didn't want to have to do that.

"Sir, I know I've been a little preoccupied with the kids lately but—"

"No, no, Brooke, you have it all wrong," he laughed, "I'm promoting you."

"What?" I asked stunned.

"Yes, I want you to head a department. I feel like you've reached your peak here in working on the work attire team," he said, "how do you feel about heading the work attire department?"

"Oh my gosh, I don't even know what to say!" I said, starting to shake. This is what I'd wanted for years—to head my own design team. Working on one had been great but there was a limit to your creativeness when you were ultimately help someone else create their vision.

"Well I hope that's good," he said.

"It is! Thank you so much!" I said.

"Listen Brooke, there is a little catch though," he said, "the department is in our new office in Greensboro."

I stopped hearing what he said. Greensboro? That was a few hours away. I would have to move. We would have to move.

"Mr Duane, this is an amazing offer but I don't know if I can take it. The kids are at school, and their Dad lives here…"

"Brooke they can move school, and we'd be more than willing to help accommodate your ex-husband in bringing him and the children up and down back to Tree Hill."

I sighed and sat down on the chair.

"I don't know," I said.

"Look Brooke, I'm not going to close this offer off to you yet. I want you to think about it. This is a very good opportunity," he said, "I just hope you know that."

"I do," I said.

"Just think it through properly?" he asked.

I agreed to speak to him about it properly tomorrow and hung up the phone. I knew I wanted to do it but I also knew what was stopping me. Being far away would mean I would be far away from Nathan. It wasn't long ago I was wishing for some distance to get some space and get over him, but now the opportunity was presenting itself I was reluctant to follow through.

Either way though I knew I had to make a decision about something. The indecision was feeling now told me I was stuck and it wasn't good. Luke was right I did need to make a decision about something. Once I'd taken action about Nathan, then maybe it would be easier to make a decision about this job too. I couldn't keep clinging on to something that was long gone.

I picked up my phone just as it began to ring in my hand.

"Nathan?" I asked, surprised to see his call. As a rule we generally only communicated the days we were supposed to swap kids and even then that mostly happened over text.

"Hi," he said, "how are you?"

"I'm fine. What's up?" I said.

"Talia had a little problem in school today and got sent home. I knew you were at work so I kept her in my office, but I was going to drop her off," he said.

Worst case scenarios flashed in my head.

"Is she ok?"

"Relax, she's fine," he said, "she got into a fight. But she is ok."

"She what?!" I said. Talia was not the type to get into fights, let alone get sent home for them.

"You can talk to her when we're back," he said.

"Ok. Thanks," I said.

"Ok, see you soon?"

"Oh Nathan?"

"Yeah?"

"When you come, can you come in for a while. I want to talk to you about something."

"Sure," he said, "I'll see you in a little bit."

"Ok, bye."

I put the phone down on the counter feeling sick at what I was about to do. I was taking the step I needed to get some closure.

Xxxxx

Nathan POV

The door flew open and Talia burst into tears as soon as she saw Brooke and ran into her arms. Brooke held her close and soothed her by rubbing her back.

"It's ok sweetie," she said, "are you ok?"

Brooke looked at her lip and frowned.

Talia nodded and wiped her tears.

"Why don't you go and take a nice hot shower and I'll make you some hot chocolate and then we can talk?" Brooke asked her, tucking Talia's hair behind her ear.

Talia nodded, then disappeared up the stairs.

I mentally compared Brooke's reaction to mine.

"Shall we?" Brooke gestured toward an open door and I followed her through to what I realised was the kitchen.

It was a spacious square room with white furniture and open space. Brooke went to fill the kettle and I sat down opposite her at the breakfast bar, not quite sure what to do with myself. It seemed strange that this place was home to Brooke but was no more than a random building to me.

I watched Brooke put the kettle on to boil then add milk to a saucepan and putting it on to boil.

"You didn't want to know what happened with Tal then and there?" I asked unable to help myself.

"Of course I did," she said, "but it clearly wasn't the right time. She was upset."

"She hit Miranda Goode," I told her, filling her in.

"I wonder what Miranda did or said," Brooke said taking out two mugs.

"Yeah but either way Talia shouldn't have hit her," I said.

"Of course she shouldn't have but we both know Tal well enough to know she wouldn't have done it unprovoked," Brooke said rationally.

I immediately felt guilt at yelling at her before even asking her reasoning. Brooke was right, I did know Talia well enough to know she must have had a good reason. Even if it wasn't right I should have at least tried to understand it. Was I really that out of touch with my kids?

I watched Brooke pour out coffee into two mugs and automatically mix two sugars into mine before passing it to me.

"Thanks," I said, holding the hot mug.

Brooke nodded then put hot chocolate mix into the pan before pouring it into one normal sized mug and two smaller ones for the kids.

"Before Tal comes down, I actually wanted to talk to you about something," Brooke said looking nervous.

"Before you say anything, I just want to tell you I had nothing to do with what Luke said to you. I want you to do what feels right for you," I told her.

"My conversation with Luke is what actually made me want to talk to you about this," she said.

My mind swam with possibilities of what she could possibly be telling me. Did she want to try things again? Get back together? I thought it was a bad thing Luke talking to her but what it had made her come to this decision.

"Luke was right. We are just making this harder for ourselves and we need to take the next step," she said.

"I agree," I said resisting the urge to smile.

"I think we should think about getting a divorce."

And that was when my mug hit the counter.


	5. Chapter 4

A/N: so here is the start of a clue of the past for you with a flashback.

Chapter 4

_Flashback_

"_Hi," I said seeing Nathan walk into the kitchen after coming home from work. I put the laundry basket in my arms down on the dining table then tied my hair into a pony tail._

"_Hi," he said going straight over to the fridge and taking out a beer._

"_What's wrong?" I asked._

"_Nothing," he said, noisily searching various drawers for a bottle opener._

_I walked over to the other side of the island and took the opener out of the cupboard and passing it to him. He closed the drawer he had open with a bang and took it out my hands._

"_What happened?" I asked._

"_Colson at work got that assistant coaching job at the college," he said._

"_He applied too?" I asked confused._

"_Yep," Nathan said popping the 'p'._

"_That's ok honey, you didn't even want it that much," I said, "you just applied."_

"_I know I don't know what I want but it's frustrating I can't get there," he said._

"_What do you mean you can't get there?" I said rubbing his arm. He pulled away and walked over to the other side of the island._

"_They told Colson he got it because he went to Duke," Nathan said._

"_Nathan," I said biting my lip._

"_Why the hell would I pass up Duke?" he said._

"_You can't regret everything because you didn't get that one job," I said._

"_It's not just the one job!" he said raising his voice, and Cody who was sitting at the table with his dinner and pushing the vegetables around the plate, turned around._

_I raised my eyebrows to tell him to calm down._

"_I wanted to get far Brooke, it was my dream. And now what am I? Assistant to the Coach of the Tree Hill High basketball team? Is that going to be my life now? Is that the furthest I can go?"_

_He put the bottle down noisily on the counter._

"_Cody, if you don't want to eat it, then don't! Stop playing with your food," Nathan suddenly said to Cody in an irritated tone._

_Cody tensed and I glared at Nathan. _

"_It's ok Codes, go see what your sisters are doing," I told him gently. He gave us a wary glance that shouldn't have been on someone's face who was so young, but then again he had seen his fair share of disagreements between me and Nathan lately. All the kids had. _

_Cody hopped off the chair and ran into the living room._

"_Nathan, you cannot keep doing this," I said. The past two weeks had been filled with similar conversations as Nathan picked apart all the things he wasn't content with in his life, which would ultimately end up in a fight between the two of us, which would somehow project onto the kids. Most nights would end with Nathan storming out._

"_Yeah well that's easy for you to say," he said._

"_What is that supposed to mean?" I said putting my hand on my hip._

"_You went to the college of your choice. You're working in a job you probably would have gotten to if—" Nathan stopped suddenly._

_His pause alerted us both to what he very nearly just said._

_My eyes widened in shock._

"_If what?" I asked, daring him to finish._

_Nathan looked at me, and I matched his stare._

"_If we didn't get pregnant with Talia and get married?" I asked._

"_Well you can't pretend that didn't make a difference," he said, and I took a step back._

"_I didn't force you to marry me Nathan," I said, "I told you to go to Duke."_

_He scoffed and let out a short laugh._

"_Mom have you seen my—" Talia said, walking into the kitchen._

"_Not now!" both Nathan and me said at exactly the same time._

"_Ok," she said, holding up both her hands, then going back the way she came._

"_How the hell was I supposed to go to Duke Brooke?" he said, "I wasn't going to leave you."_

"_So you thought you'd marry me out of obligation?" I asked._

"_No! You know that's not what I meant," he said frustrated, "I can't talk about this right now."_

_He went and pulled on his jacket and picked up his keys._

"_No, we need to talk about this," I said._

"_Well I don't want to right now," he said._

"_Don't walk away from me," I said. He paused by the kitchen door._

"_I'll see you later," he said softly before walking out._

_End Flashback _

xxxxxx

Present day

Nathan POV

"Lucas! I swear to god, open this door right now!" I yelled, not having any patience as I knocked again.

"Nathan?" Peyton asked, getting out the car as she drove into the driveway.

She started getting her house keys out but before I could respond the front door opened from inside.

"Calm down," Luke said stepping aside to let me. I walked in with Peyton hot on my heels.

"I need to know exactly what you said to Brooke," I demanded.

Luke closed the door and looked confused.

"Sweetie, what's going on?' Peyton asked, looking confused.

"I need to know exactly so I can fix this, then I need you to never interfere in my business ever again!" I shouted.

"Ok, it's ok, calm down," Peyton said, and gestured to us to go into the kitchen and move out the hallway, "Nathan, explain. What's going on?"

"I haven't spoken to her since Peyton's party," Luke said.

"Well whatever you said 'prompted' her to make her decision," I said frustrated.

"What decision?" Lucas asked.

"She wants a divorce," I said, the words sounding just as deflated as I internally felt after hearing them.

"No," Peyton said, sounding crestfallen.

"She said that?" Luke asked, "are you sure?"

I resisted the urge to roll my eyes.

"Yes I'm sure!" I said, "she said something about your talk made her realise it's unfair for her to keep me hanging. I want to be hanging Lucas! It's better than her cutting me out of her life completely!"

"Ok, ok, calm down, we can fix this," he said.

"No I don't think we can," I said.

"I can speak to her," he said.

" Actually I think you may have done enough," I said.

"What if I speak to her?" Peyton asked.

"I don't know what to do. She said we're just hurting ourselves by being stuck and we need closure. I don't want that type of closure!"

Panic filled my mind as thoughts of having no connection to Brooke at all actually became a possibility. We'd been separated for a year but the thought that it was only a separation kept me going. Right now I saw her every other weekend for a few minutes whilst we swapped over the kids, but what would happen when the kids got old enough to come without her? Would I ever see her?

"Nathan sit down," Peyton said gently, pushing me backward.

"She loves you Nate, she isn't just going to get a divorce," she soothed.

"Don't fill me with false hope Peyt, because this time I really don't know if there's any going back."

I clasped my hands on the back of my neck and leaned down, trying to control my breathing.

Peyton rubbed my back gently.

For so long Brooke had been my life, not because she had to be; because I wanted her to be. I didn't know how I was meant to function without her.

Xxxxxxx

Brooke POV

"Uncle Luke," I heard Talia say after the doorbell rang.

"Wow," I heard him say, "please tell me the other guy was much worse off."

"She was," Talia replied.

"That's my girl," he said and I heard a high five.

"Luke!" I yelled from the living room.

"Sorry! You shouldn't get into fights Natalia Scott," Luke said.

"Yes sir," she replied but I could hear the smile in her voice.

Lucas and Talia came into the living room and I put my glass of water on the coffee table.

"Brooke," he said looking wary.

"Lucas," I responded.

Talia looked between us for a few seconds then said, "I'm going to go make sure Cody didn't get out of bed again."

She flounced out the room, and Lucas hesitated by the doorway.

"Sit Luke," I said sensing his discomfort.

Luke came and sat on the other side of the couch.

"I just wanted to say sorry about the other night," he said, "I don't like you being mad at me."

"It's ok," I said, "I'm not mad anymore. You were just looking out for your brother."

"Brooke, I was looking out for you too," he said and I gave him a smile.

"I know, it's just hard sometimes to hear things about my own relationship when I'm trying not to think about it myself."

"Are we ok?" he asked.

"We're ok," I said and he looked relieved, "but maybe next time try not to yell?"

He cringed.

"I know, I'm sorry."

"It's ok."

"So if we're ok, you know you shouldn't listen to anything I say when I've been drinking slightly, and you therefore don't need to get a divorce."

I saw this coming. I sighed and twisted around on the couch more.

"Luke—"

"Come on Brooke," he said.

"As much as I didn't like what you said, you were right," I said.

"I'm not right, I'm never right," he said, "Just asked Peyton, she'll tell you."

"You were right," I enforced, "we're just hurting each other with what we're doing. I need to make a decision and I'm not ready right now to make the one you want and I can't keep Nathan on the side when I know I might never be ready. It's not fair to him or me."

"You love Nathan though," he said.

"And I probably always will, but sometimes love isn't enough."

"I don't want to force you into anything, but I think you should think about this," he said.

"Don't you think I have thought about this? It's divorce Luke, it's not something I just randomly thought of or is it something I'm talking lightly."

"I know," he said.

"Luke I appreciate everything and I know it's coming from a good place but I think for this one you all need to let me and Nathan figure it out. I know we've all grown up together and we're so used to being part of big life decisions but this time, you have to trust we'll make the right decision for us and the kids."

Xxxxxxxx

Brooke POV

"Brooke?"

"Yes?" I said, looking up from the pile of sketches I'd just put down on my desk.

"Mr Duane wants to see you in his office," Serena, his assistant said from my doorway.

"Ok, thanks," I said, grabbing my cell phone and walking down the hallway.

He probably wanted to know if I had changed my mind since yesterday about the job.

I got closer to his door, but it was already open, propped open by a chair.

Inside was Mr Duane with another man who had his back to me.

"Ahh Brooke, good," Mr Duane said.

The other man turned around and smiled.

"Brooke, I want you to meet Julian Baker," he said.

The man put out his hand and I shook it.

"Brooke Scott," I said.

"Nice to meet you," he responded.

"Brooke, Julian is the other member of our Tree Hill offices moving to Greensboro. If you decide to go you'll both be heading the same department and will be working together."

"I really hope you decide to come," Julian said, "I was looking through some of the work you did for the last line, and I'm very impressed. I think you'd be an asset to work with."

"Wow, thank you," I said, "I haven't fully made my decision yet though.

"Look, I'm putting you both on a joint project now. Let's see how it goes and how you feel working together. It might help with your decision," Mr Duane said.

"Ok," I said, still feeling slightly hesitant. I had never been involved in a project with only one other person before, it was clearly a step up from what I was used to. At the same time though I still wasn't sure it would change my resolve to stay in Tree Hill.

"Fantastic," he said, "I'll go and get the outline now."

Mr Duane left the room, leaving me and Julian.

"So how can you not be sure if you want to head a department?" Julian asked, "I've been waiting for this since I started."

"No, you're right. It's my dream too," I said.

"Then what's holding you back?" he asked.

"I have kids," I said, "and moving them away from school and from their Dad who lives here…it just seems a bit much."

"Oh," he said.

"Would it be easy for you to move?" I asked.

"My girlfriend's family is actually from Greensboro, and moving back would be ideal for us," he explained.

"That was lucky," I said.

"I know. It seems a little bit more complicated for you than it is for me," he said sitting in the chair.

"Yeah it is," I agreed.

Xxxxxxxxx

Two days later

Talia POV

"Tal?" Mom called up the stairs.

I grabbed my backpack and went downstairs.

Ella was putting her shoes on and I could hear Cody in the other room.

"We need to leave like five minutes ago," Mom said looking flustered, going through a pile of papers.

"I'm ready," I said, washing an apple off the table.

"I just need to find something then we can go," she said.

"Ok," I said taking a bite of the apple.

"Are you going to Dad's this weekend?" she asked.

"No," I said and she didn't even attempt to ask me why.

The doorbell rang and Mom looked even more stressed.

"You find what you need to find, I'll get the door," I said.

I went into the hall, and opened the door, expecting to see the postman. Instead though I found an extremely attractive guy standing on my doorstep.

"Umm hi," I said.

"Hi, you must be Ella?" he asked cautiously.

"No, Talia," I said.

"Right, I couldn't remember which way around it was," he said.

"And you are?" I asked confused.

"Oh sorry, I'm Julian. I work with your Mom," he said.

"Oh, right. She's in here, come on in," I said, stepping aside.

We went into the kitchen and Mom looked up.

"Julian! I can't find the –"

Before Mom could finish, Julian held up a few papers with notes on them.

"Oh thank god," she said looking relieved.

"I knew we'd need them for the pitch but didn't know which version you wanted so I came to check. It was on the way," he said.

"No, this is great. This is the last version," she said taking them from him and putting them in her bag.

"So I'll see you when you get into work? We can do a run through?" he asked.

"Definitely, I'm not going in without one," she said, putting on her jacket, "I just need to drop the kids to school first. Thanks to these missing sheets they'll both probably be late."

"I can drop Talia if you want," he said.

"Drop Talia?"

"Yeah isn't the high school near the office?" he asked.

"That would actually be a massive help," Mom said, then turned to me, "Tal, do you mind?"

"That's cool," I said shrugging.

"Right, then let's go," he said.

I grabbed my back, waved to Mom then followed him out to his car. I was actually glad I'd have the extra time to scout him out. Nobody from Mom's work had ever just dropped by before and I wondered who he was.

I knew from the second he turned on the music in the car that he was cool. The rest of the car ride went well and it wasn't awkward at all as we talked about random things like music and books.

Julian eventually pulled up in front of the building, going through the parking lot.

"Thank you so much," I said getting out.

"You're very welcome," he said, "I'll probably see you around."

"I will?"

"I'm working on a project with your Mom," he said.

"Right," I said swinging my bag onto my shoulder, "you're cool."

"Thanks for the approval," he said laughing.

Julian was cool. Why couldn't Mom somehow end up dating him? I knew it wouldn't happen. As much as I hated it, she was still hung up on Dad for some reason. I really wanted her to move on; not necessarily with Julian but just with life. She needed move to a better place. I hated seeing her only a shell of who she used to be.

"Natalia," I suddenly heard on my left, and I jumped in surprise.

"It's Talia," I said, seeing that Dad was leaning against the wall.

"I know what your name is," he said, "I did have a part in naming you, you know."

"Yep, your involvement is kind of stuck in my full name," I muttered.

"What?"

"Nothing," I said, "I have to go to class."

"Wait," he said, "who was that?"

"Who was who?" I asked, even though I was starting to realise who he was referring to.

"Who dropped you to school?" he asked.

Ok I know it was unnecessary and uncalled for but in that moment I was sad for Mom, and still upset over how he completely skipped over my feelings and my side of the story after the incident at school. I couldn't stop myself.

"Oh that?" I said casually, "you mean Julian?"

"Julian?" Dad asked looking confused.

"Oh yeah that's just Mom's friend," I said walking through the school doors.

"Her friend?" he asked looking confused. He had a weird look on his face that I couldn't read. He was walking beside me as I went to my locker.

"Yeah," I said like it was obvious, "Julian's really cool."

"Oh. Are they good friends?" he asked.

"Yeah I guess. We were all rushing this morning and since he was at home anyway he dropped me off," I said shrugging.

I wasn't an idiot. I knew exactly what I had just said and knew my phrasing implied something which wasn't exactly true, despite being technically accurate.

Dad went visibly white and for a split second I felt bad.

"So umm ok, I have to go," he said, "are you coming with El and Cody tonight?"

"No, I probably have work," I said.

"Right," Dad said looking dazed.

"I have class," I said, picking up my books and walking away.

I knew what I had done was fundamentally wrong but I couldn't help feel for the first time in a long time like I had the slight upper hand.

xxxxx

AN: Don't hate Talia. She feels hurt and like Nathan doesn't care about her and sometimes when you're hurt you do stupid things.


End file.
